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Burns H. Weston (1933–2015)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Henry J. Richardson  and
Adrien K. Wing
Adrien K. Wing
Affiliation:
International and Comparative Law Programs and Law at the University of Iowa College of Law
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Extract

Burns Weston, a member of the Board of Editors of this Journal from 1974 to 1999, and an Honorary Editor thereafter, died unexpectedly on October 28, 2015, late in his eighty-first year, in Iowa City, Iowa. All who knew him, as friend, colleague, student, or collaborator, marveled at his seemingly boundless energy and determination, his focused devotion to whatever project involved him, his deep intellect and flowing humor, his endless imagination for creating a better world, his talent at institution building, and his ongoing curiosity propelling a dedication to achieving progress in the human condition. His professional life featured an inexhaustible determination to use international law to protect human dignity around the world. His interests, expertise, and scholarship in international claims law, human rights law, environmental law, nuclear disarmament, and global governance in particular were surpassing in their consistent excellence, continuous push against familiar doctrinal parameters, and his rich profusion of published scholarship.

Type
In Memoriam
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 110 , Issue 3 , July 2016 , pp. 480 - 490
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2016

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References

1 See, e.g., Dawson, Frank G. & Weston, Burns H., “Prompt, Adequate and Effective:”A universal Standard of Compensation?, 30 Fordham L. Rev. 727 (1962)Google Scholar; Dawson, Frank G. & Weston, Burns H., Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino: New Wine in Old Bottles, 31 U. Chi. L. Rev. 63 (1963)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Community Regulation of Foreign-Wealth Deprivations: A Tentative Framework for Inquiry, in Essays on Expropriations 117 (Miller, Richard S. & Stanger, Roland J. eds., 1967)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., International Law and the Deprivation of Foreign Wealth: A Framework for Future Inquiry (pt. 1), 54 Va. L. Rev. 1069 (1968)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., International Law and the Deprivation of Foreign Wealth: A Framework for Future Inquiry (pt. 2), 54 Va. L. Rev. 1265 (1968)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Postwar French Foreign Claims Practice: Adjudication by National Commissions—An Introductory Note, 43 Ind. L. J. 833 (1986)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Postwar French Foreign Claims Practice: Adjudication by National Com missions—Czech Claims, 10 Va. J. Int’l L. 223 (1970)Google Scholar; Burns H. Weston, International Claims: Postwar French Practice (1971); Weston, Burns H., “Constructive Takings” Under International Law: A Modest Foray into the Problem of “Creeping Expropriation, 16 Va. J. Int’l L. 103 (1975)Google Scholar; Burns H. Weston, International Claims: Their Settlementby Lumpsum Agreements (1975); Burns H. Weston, Richard B. Lillich & David J. Bederman, International Claims: Their Settlement by Lumpsum Agreements, 1975–1995 (1999); Weston, Burns H., The Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and the Deprivation of Foreign-Owned Wealth, 75 AJIL 437 (1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; International Claims: Contemporary European Practice (Richard B. Lillich & Burns H. Weston eds., 1982); Weston, Burns H., The New International Economic Order and the Deprivation of Foreign Proprietary Wealth: Reflections Upon the Contemporary International Law Debate, in International Law of State Responsibility for Injuries to Aliens 89 (Lillich, Richard B. ed., 1983)Google Scholar; Lillich, Richard B. & Weston, Burns H., Lump Sum Agreements: Their Continuing Contribution to the Law of International Claims, 82 AJIL 69 (1988)Google Scholar.

2 See, e.g., Weston, Burns H., Lukes, Robin Ann & Hnatt, Kelly M., Regional Human Rights Regimes: A Comparison and Appraisal, 20 V and. J. Transnat’l L. 585 (1987)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Human Rights, in 20 Encyclopaedia Britannica 714 (15th ed. 1988)Google Scholar; Marks, Stephen P. & Weston, Burns H., International Human Rights at Fifty: A Foreword, 8 Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs. 113 (1998)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., The Substantive Rights and United States Law, in U. S. Ratification of The International Covenants on Human Rights 168 (Hannum, Hurst & Fischer, Dana D. eds., 1993)Google Scholar; The Future of International Human Rights(Burns H. Weston & Stephen P. Marks eds., 1999); Child Labor and Human Rights: Making Children Matter (Burns H. Weston ed., 2005); Weston, Burns H., Human Rights and Nation-Building in Cross-Cultural Settings, 60 Me. L. Rev. 317 (2008)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Child Labor in Human Rights Law and Policy Perspective, in Human Rights in Labor and Employment Relations: International and Domestic Perspectives 73 (Gross, James A. & Compa, Lance eds., 2009)Google Scholar; Grear, Anna & Weston, Burns H., The Betrayal of Human Rights and the Urgency of Universal Corporate Accountability: Reflections on a Post- Kiobel Lawscape , 15 Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 21 (2015)Google Scholar; Human Rights in The World Community: Issues and Action (Burns H. Weston & Anna Grear eds., 4th ed. 2016).

3 See, e.g., Weston, Burns H., Contending with a Planet in Peril and Change: An Optimal Educational Response, 5 Alternatives 59 (1979)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice: Foundational Reflections, 9 Vt. J. Envtl. L. 375 (2008)Google Scholar; Burns H. Weston & Tracy Bach, Recalibrating the Law of Humans with the Laws of Nature: Climate Change, Human Rights, and Intergenerational Justice (a policy paper of the Climate Legacy Initiative, a joint project of the Environmental Law Center of Vermont Law School and The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, April 2009); Weston, Burns H., The Theoretical Foundations of Intergenerational Ecological Justice: An Overview, 34 Hum. Rts. Q. 251 (2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bollier, David & Weston, Burns H., Green Governance: Ecological Survival, Human Rights and the Law of the Commons, in The Wealth of the Commons: A World beyond Market & State 343 (Bollier, David & Helfrich, Silke eds., 2012)Google Scholar; Jonathan C. Carlson, Sir Geoffrey Palmer & Burns H. Weston, International Environmental Law and World Order: A Problem-Oriented Course Book (3d ed., 2012)(accompanied by a teacher’s manual and documentary supplement); David Bollier & Burns H. Weston, Greenkeeping Governance: Toward A Law of the Ecological Commons, in Kosmos: Global Citizens Creating The New Civilization 63 (Spring–Summer 2012); Burns H. Weston & David Bollier, Green Governance: Ecological Survival, Human Rights, and The Law of the Commons (2014) [hereinafter Green Governance]; Weston, Burns H. & Bollier, David, Toward a Recalibrated Human Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment: Making the Conceptual Transition, 2 J. Hum. Rts. 6 Env’t 116 (2013)Google Scholar; Bollier, David & Weston, Burns, Green Governance: Advancing Ecological Stewardship Via the Commons and Human Rights, in The Worldwatch Institute State of the World 2013: Governing for Sustainability 91 (Prugh, Tom & Renner, David eds., 2014)Google Scholar.

4 See, e.g., Weston, Burns H., The Role of Lawyers in Preventing Nuclear War: Remarks, 76 ASIL PROC. 338 (1976)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Peace & World Order Education: An Optimal Design, in Peace and World Order Studies: A curriculum Guide 55 (Transnational Academic Program Institute for World Order 1981)Google Scholar; Burns H. Weston, Peace and World Order Studies: A Curriculum Guide(1978); Weston, Burns H., Nuclear Weapons and International Law: Prolegomenon to General Illegality, 4 N.Y.L. Sch. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 227 (1983)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Answering the Nuclear Question: The Modern Lawyer’s Role, 9 Brook. J. Int’l L. 201 (1983)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Nuclear Weapons Versus International Law: A Contextual Reassessment, 28 McGill L. J. 542 (1983)Google Scholar; Toward Nuclear Disarmament and Global Security: A Search for Alternatives (Burns H. Weston ed., 1984); Weston, Burns H., Who Are the Soviets? The Importance of Accurate Perception in the Age of Trident, in Soviet-American Relations 47 (Nelson, Daniel N. & Anderson, Roger B. eds., 1988)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Lawyers and the Search for Alternatives to Nuclear Deterrence, 54 U. Cin. L. Rev. 451 (1985)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Are There Alternatives to the Nuclear Threat System ?, 2 J. World Peace 16 (1985)Google Scholar; Alternative Security: Living Without Nuclear Deterrence (Burns H. Weston ed., 1990); Weston, Burns H., Law and Alternative Security: Toward a Nuclear Weapons-Free World, 75 IOWA L. Rev. 1077 (1990)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Toward Post-Cold War Global Security: A Legal Perspective (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Waging Peace Series No. 32, 1992)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., A Post-Soviet Alternative to Nuclear Deterrence: A Legal Perspective, 22 Victoria U. Wellington L. Rev. 199 (1992)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., In Quest of World Peace: Law and Alternative Security, in The Constitutional Foundations of World Peace 349 (Falk, Richard A., Johansen, Robert C. & Kim, Samuel S. eds., 1993)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Nonproliferation and the Duties of Nuclear-Weapon States: Taking the NPT Seriously, in Nonproliferation 28 (Deiseroth, Dieter & Gustafsson, Stig eds., 1993)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Nuclear Weapons and the World Court: Ambiguity’s Consensus, 7 Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs. 371 (1997)Google Scholar.

5 See, e.g., Mendlovitz, Saul H. & Weston, Burns H., The United Nations at Fifty: Toward Humane Global Governance, in Preferred Futures for the United Nations 3 (Mendovitz, Saul H. & Weston, Burns H. eds. 1995)Google Scholar; Green Governance, supra note 3.

6 He wrote significantly and often comprehensively on public international law, international environmental law, climate change and global governance, international human rights, human dignity, child labor, international claims law, foreign wealth deprivations, post-Cold War global security, nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation, peace studies, global hunger, the global commons, the United Nations, preferred futures and global governance, Palestinian/Israeli issues under international law, national and international approaches to human rights implementation, conflict resolution, international education and world order, and American constitutional law and foreign policy under the rule of law.

7 See Saxon, Wolfgang, S. Burns Weston, 90, Cleveland Lawyer and Federal Official, N.Y. Times, Oct. 5, 1994, at http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/05/obituaries/s-burns-weston-90-cleveland-lawyer-and-federal-official.html Google Scholar.

8 See Burns Weston Obituary, N.Y. Times, Nov. 12, 2015, at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=176450676.

9 Weston, Monique, Remarks, in Weston, Burns H., Remembrance and Celebration of a Life 181 (Weston, Timothy & Weston, Rebecca eds., 2016) [hereinafter Remembrance]Google Scholar.

10 See Burns H. Weston personal website at http://www.burnsweston.com (last visited July. 25, 2016).

11 See Weston, Burns H., Living History Interview with Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Director of the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, 11 Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs. 431, 438 (2001) [hereinafter Living History Interview]Google Scholar.

12 Id. at 456.

13 Living History Interview, supra note 11, at 439. Weston wrote concerning McDougal’s work and legacy on several occasions. See, e.g., Weston, Burns H., The Role of Law in Promoting Peace and Violence: A Matter of Definition, Social Values, and Individual Responsibility, in Toward World Order and Human Dignity: Essays in Honor of Myres S. McDougal 114 (Reisman, W. Michael & Weston, Burns H. eds., 1976)Google Scholar; Weston, Burns H., Remarks on McDougal’s Jurisprudence: Utility, Influence, Controversy, 79 ASIL Proc. 266 (1985)Google Scholar; Falk, Richard A., Higgins, Rosalyn C., Reisman, W. Michael & Weston, Burns H., In Memoriam: Myres S. McDougal (1906–1998), 92 AJIL 729 (1998)Google Scholar.

14 W. Michael Reisman, The Weston Phenomenon (Faculty Scholarship Series, Paper 4929, 2013), available at http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/4929.

15 See, e.g., Weston, International Environmental Law and World Order, supra note 3; Burns H. Weston, Richard A. Falk, Hilary Charlesworth & Andrew L. Strauss, International Law and World Order: A Problem-Oriented Coursebook (4th ed., 2006) (with Supplement and Documents).

16 See Report of the Committee on Teaching and Examination Methods, Handbook of the Association of American Law Schools 85, 87–88 (1942).

17 Hines, N. William, Burns Weston Tribute, in Festschrift in Honor of Burns H. Weston, 21 Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs, 607, 608 (2013)Google Scholar.

18 Amy Weismann, Remarks, in Remembrance, supra note 9, at 104.

19 Monique Weston, Remarks, in Remembrance, supra note 9, at 181–82.

20 Richard Falk, Remarks, in Remembrance, supra note 9, at 16.

21 Palmer, Remarks, in Remembrance, supra note 9, at 28.

22 Green Governance, supra note 3.

23 See discussion by Alston, Philip, Does the Past Matter? On the Origins of Human Rights, 126 Harv. L. Rev. 2043 (2013) (book review) (especially at 2066 on The New Revisionists)Google Scholar.

24 See Kennedy, David, The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International Humanitarianism 3-37 (2004)Google Scholar [ Chapter One: The International Human Rights Movement: Part of the Problem? as reprinted in Philip Alston & Ryan Goodman, International Human Rights: The Successor to International Human Rights in Context 504 (2013)].

25 Green Governance, supra note 3.

26 Email from Edith Brown Weiss to the authors (Apr. 10, 2016, 2:10 PM EST) (on file with authors). Notably sharing this perspective, even as they raise some implementation questions about the new paradigm, are Stewart, David, What to Do About the Environmental Challenge? 26 Geo. Int’l Envtl. L. Rev. 191 (2014) (book review)Google Scholar; Magallanes, Catherine Iorns, Book Review, 5 J. Hum. Rts. & Env’t 102 (2014)Google Scholar; and de Lucia, Vito, Book Review, J. Envtl L. 373 (2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Less enthusiastic but still generally favorable was Morss, John R., Resources for a Future: Towards an Articulation of Global Governance, Review Essay, 15 Melbourne J. Int’l L. 584 (2014)Google Scholar.

27 See, e.g., Nagle, John Copeland, The Environmentalist Attack on Environmental Law, 50 Tulsa L. Rev. 593 (2015)Google Scholar; Pedersen, Ole W., Book Review, J. L. & Soc’y (Cardiff University Law School) 468 (2013)Google Scholar; and Knox, John H., Book Review, 108 AJIL 131 (2014)Google Scholar.

28 See supra note 1.

29 See Lillich & Weston, International Claims, supra note 1.

30 See, e.g., Dawson & Weston, supra note 1, cited in Yackee, Jason Webb, Pacta Sunt Servanda and State Promises to Foreign Investors Before Bilateral Investment Treaties: Myth and Reality, 32 Fordham Int’l L. J. 1550, 1560 n. 46 (2008)Google Scholar.

31 See Falk, Richard & Weston, Burns H., The Relevance of International Law to Palestinian Rights in the West Bank and Gaza: In Legal Defense of the Intifada, 32 Harv. Int’l L. J. 129 (1991)Google Scholar; Falk, Richard & Weston, Burns H., The Israeli-Occupied Territories, International Law, and the Boundaries of Scholarly Discourse: A Reply to Michael Curtis, 33 Harv. Int’l L. J. 191 (1992)Google Scholar.

32 Id. at 451.

33 Id.

34 John Quigley, Remarks, in Remembrance, supra note 9, at 48.

35 Id.

36 See, e.g., Human Rights Quarterly; Human Rights & Human Welfare, an international journal of critical essays and book notes on major human rights, justice, and welfare issues; Intergenerational Justice Review, a German-based quarterly of current research and thinking from political science, law, and ethics concerning the rights of future generations; and Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems (TCLP).

37 His other organizational affiliations include: Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS); a member of the Board of Directors of the Procedural Aspects of International Law Institute (PAIL); member of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP); member of the Academic Council of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA); and a founding member of the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights (MCHR). Additionally, he was: a life member of the New York based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); an elected member of the National Council of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS);and a member of the Advisory Council of the International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG), now known as Global Rights—Partners for Justice.

38 See supra note 1.

39 See Weston, Burns H., Falk, Richard A. & D’Amato, Anthony A., International Law and World Order: A Problem-Oriented Coursebook (1st ed. 1980)Google Scholar.

40 See Remembrance, supra note 9.

41 Rebecca Weston, Remarks, in Remembrance, supra note 9, at 178.

42 Living History Interview, supra note 11, at 443.